Event Recap | Members’ Meeting Beijing & North China

The CICC Members’ Meeting for Beijing and North China was held online on December 15th.

The meeting represented an occasion for CICC Members to learn about our recent actions, our activities pipeline, and have an updated economic outlook for the north region for 2023. 

In its keynote address, CICC Chairman Mr Paolo Bazzoni, stressed the significance of CICC growth in the past years and its strengthened presence in the territories.

"Continuing to focus on the quality of its services, in 2022, the CICC surpassed the record number of members of 2021, today representing a membership base of 860 members. In 2023, the strategy of overseeing the territories will remain a priority for us. We will continue to increase quality activities and business advocacy to promote Made in Italy and support our companies in China and Italy interacting in a pragmatic way with Chinese partners." – Paolo Bazzoni, Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce

On the occasion, we invited Mr Federico Antonelli, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Beijing, to greet our Members. He remarked on the importance of cooperation among Sistema Italia to promote Italian business and culture in China.

During his address, then, CICC Vice President for North China, Mr Matteo Tanteri, analyzed the CICC Member base composition in Beijing and North China, stressing that even through the difficulties experienced by our companies during the Covid-19 pandemic the numbers are in a growing trend. To date, the CICC has 190 Members in North China, equal to 22% of the total.

In order to provide an outlook on the latest macroeconomic trends to our Members, we invited Mr Weisi Xie, Shanghai Director at the Economist Intelligence Network, who shared China's macro-outlook and implications for businesses.
Mr Xie provided a forecast of China's economic condition for 2023, impacted by the end of Covid Zero Policy. According to the analysis, the following 70-90 days will be fundamental to have a clearer picture of how China will recover. Mr Xie also focused on the opportunities in the North of China. Despite the challenges the northern region is facing there are many opportunities to consider, such as the presence of resources and 8 Pilot Free Trade Zones that represent a new business opportunity for companies operating in the region.

In the northern region, we organized during 2022 a wide range of activities to support the Members. Past activities and future plans were detailed by our Board Member in Beijing, Ms Sarah Orlando, who focused on three levels of analysis: national activities, local activities, working groups activities. All activities are CICC signature or organized in strong collaboration with Sistema Italia, European and local partners.

In the North, Tianjin is an important focus area. Mr Fabio Antonello, Board Member resident in Tianjin, remarked the fruitful collaboration, present and future, with local institutions in the area starting from local authorities, Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone, Nankai University, Quartiere Italiano, among others.

To conclude, we welcomed the Coordinators and Vice Coordinators of 4 of our 11 working groups to give a sector overview and present the activity plan for 2023 related to the North: Mr Mirko Turrina, Vice Coordinator of the Mechanical Engineering Working Group (MEWG), Ms Cristina Corsini, Coordinator of the F&B Working Group (F&BWG), Mr Carlo Geremia, Coordinator of the Intellectual Property Working Group (IPWG), and Mr Denis Bastieri, Coordinator of the Innovation and Technology Working Group (I&TWG).

The meeting was hosted and moderated by CICC Secretary General, Mr Renzo Isler.

After the online meeting, our Members in Beijing gather for an Informal Aperitif at Forno, Sanlitun to enjoy an Italian aperitif and celebrate the upcoming festivities.